"Hello, Hiroshi-kun.  We haven't seen you in such a long time.  How is your mother?"
	"Oh, she's fine, Mrs. Nenaii.  Um, I was wondering if Kiyuki was done with the book that I lent her the other day."
	"Is she doing some more Chinese translation for you again?  I think the book is on her desk.  You're welcome to go and get it.  By the way, we haven't seen her last night either.  If you find her, please tell her to come back before it gets dark.  She must have been studying down at the library and gone to school first thing this morning."
	"Okay, Mrs. Nenaii.  I will."  Hiroshi ran off to school in hopes of looking over Kiyuki's notes during a break.  *Well, I can't read Chinese, Hiroshi thought so I may as well do Kiyuki a favor and drop this back at the library.*  The library was on the way to his school so it was easy to return it and still be on time for class.  *Yosha!  Kiyuki would be proud if she could see how organized I can be.*  However, it slipped Hiroshi's mind that he had removed the book from the private room in the library, not from the public circulation shelves.  He slid the book into the drop box and ran to school.




	For some reason, Nozomi felt giddy that morning. Maybe there was something in her coffee, but it was probably because she was planning on asking her aunt if she could borrow the ShiJinTenChiSho for herself today, and she couldn't think of any conceivable reason for her aunt to say no.  As she gathered her belongings and prepared to get to work, she sung one of her favorite children's songs absentmindedly. "Chi chi pa pa, chi pa pa. Suzume no gakkou no sensei wa..." The song broke off with a squeak as she checked the time. "I'm late!" Picking up the last of her belongings, she pocketed the key to the Important Documents Reference Room, shoved a slice of toast in her mouth, and hurried out the door.

	Realizing that she had made it with time to spare, Nozomi slowed down from her frantic walking speed as she neared the entrance of the Library.  Absently, she noticed a young boy slip a book into the drop box, and her eyes widened as she caught sight of what book it was: ShiJinTenChiSho.
	"Aa~!" Half in a daze, she just watched as he ran off, her finger pointing at the culprit who had obviously stolen an important book...and just returned it. Then her brain switched into gear. "Wait!" she tried calling after the boy, but he was already out of hearing range. "Dammit!" she swore, then went into the Library and pulled the book out of the book drop. With the TenChiSho in hand, she went into her aunt's office.
	"Aneki! I've got a favor to ask."
	"I really wish you'd knock on occasion," said her aunt with an exasperated glance at her niece. "What is it?"
	Nozomi handed the book to her. "It's this. I know it's not one of the books I'm supposed to be researching, but as of now, it's just been sitting in that room, forgotten, and I'd really like to borrow it, and-"
	"Hai hai! Go ahead!" Okada waved her niece away before she could continue her list of reasons. "Anything else you wanted to ask me before you start on your work?"
	A flash of that boy dropping the TenChiSho into the book drop went through Nozomi's mind. "Actually, yes. There's two more things. I was hoping you could keep your eye out for a boy who was here the other day. He, uh, asked me some questions on China, and I told him I'd get back to him with the answers, but I forgot to get his name. He should come around within the next few days, though." She gave him the boy's description. "If you see him, can you let me know?"
	"Oh! and something else. I think you really ought to look into getting better locks for the employees only sections of the Library. Maybe those doors with the coded locks on them, because really, it seems anyone can pick a lock nowadays, and what do you do if you forget or lose the key...?"
	With a pained smile, Okada stood up and gently pushed her niece out of her office while she continued her arguement. Shoving her out of the door, she smiled and told her, "I'll think about it, okay? And I'll keep and eye out for your young friend."
	"I mean it, Aneki! You really should think about getting better security for this place!"
	Sighing, she closed the door on Nozomi and thought to herself, "She really needs to stop drinking coffee in the morning."


	Nozomi placed the book back in it's place on the shelf and dusted her hands with satisfaction. Not only had she been able to get some work done on a couple of books, but she also cleaned up the mess that had been left for quite a while in the Important Documents Reference Room. Feeling like she deserved a break, she reached into her bookbag, pulled out the ShiJinTenChiSho, sat on a ladder and began to read.
	"...the story itself is an incantation. Whoever finishes the book shall receive this power. As soon as the page is turned, the story will become the truth and begin..."
	"It is a religious text!" she exclaimed, "Lucky!" Her eyes shone as she reflected upon her luck to have run across such a book. Quickly snapping out of her stupor, she went back to reading and quickly found herself lost in the words that unfolded an intruiguing story before her eyes. She discovered that she was more deeply interested in this story than in any other story she had ever read. She felt herself become overcome with confusion as Suzaku no Miko ran off into the woods, and she felt frightened as Seiryuu no Miko was chased by the angry mob. She was so enthralled with the ShiJinTenChiSho that she completely forgot about her work.
	Suddenly Nozomi read something that made her eyes widen in shock, "She slipped her hand in," she read outloud, "and pulled out a key. She stared at it for a moment, weighing it in her palm. 'The Reference Room key...'" She stopped reading and lept to her feet, the book falling on the floor open in front of her. Sticking her hand into her pocket, she pulled out a key, her own copy of the Reference Room key. "Impossible!" she declared outloud. Frantically, she picked up the book and started to flip back through the pages until she came to a picture of Suzaku no Miko. "That's that girl!" she recognized her as the girl whom she had asked directions from on her first day there. The line drawing was a bit stylized, but it was definitely the same girl. Quickly, she shut the book, as if to end the strangeness around her, but the feeling of profound confusion remained. 
	"What's going on?" she wondered. "This is crazy! I must be dreaming!" Just then hearing the tone that signaled the Library would close soon, she snapped out of her shock, scrambled her belongings together, and started to reshelve the book, but after a moment's thought, took it with her. "I must be dreaming," she thought to herself. "Surely, when I open this book again, I'll find that it was all a dream..." She tried to convince herself, but the way her heart was pounding in her chest told her that it wasn't a dream.